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If you’ve read Guy Kawasaki’s “How To Drive Your Competitor Crazy”, well this is text book. The Cadillac brand is known for its luxurious automobiles, and when launching its electric hybrid the ELR, they went for the all American pride ego of an old 80s American dream persona. A rich man portrayed by actor Neil McDonough emphasizes on why Americans work hard than European or Asians and proud of it. It lifted and played on the American ego, defining that he worked hard to be where he is and got what he deserves.

Did the ad work? Well yes as it represents an American Dream stereotype niche that is the target market of Cadillac, however America is a melting pot of cultures and the American Dream is sadly just a dream for most. It is marked as an over boastful, arrogant and tasteless ads to most who really are not in the Cadillac target market, and this is where our story starts. While the Cadillac ads gain praises in the upper class and non target markets in the American Midwest and South, other parts of the country especially the more urban critical and eco aware populous who mostly reside in the coastal part of the country (NY, Washington, San Fransisco, etc), finds it repulsive. Car manufacturer Ford finds this as opportunity to launch its Electric Vehicle the Ford C-Max Energi. Ford made a contrast replica of Cadillac’s ad, and in that contrast was what Ford wanted to grab as its target market for its Electric car consumers: hard working Americans who are aware of its surroundings and cares enough to make a difference. They cast a spunky urban farming entrepreneur and made something that not just Americans can relate to. I’ll just let you see the ad right away to make a comparison and maybe you’ll have your own preference to which ad you prefer and maybe defy my words above, I’d be interested in what you have to say.